1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interactive toy. In particular, the present invention discloses a toy that downloads information from the Internet in response to a verbal command.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Interactive toys have been on the market now for quite some time. By interactive, it is meant that the toy actively responds to commands of a user, rather than behaving passively in the manner of traditional toys. An example of such interactive toys is the so-called electronic pet. These electronic pets have a computer system that is programmed to adapt to and xe2x80x9clearnxe2x80x9d verbal commands from a user. For example, in response to the command xe2x80x9cSpeakxe2x80x9d, a virtual pet may emit one of several pre-programmed sounds from a speaker embedded within the pet.
Although quite popular, interactive toys all suffer from the same problem: Once manufactured, the programmed functionality of the toy is fixed. The toy may appear flexible as the processor within the toy learns and adapts to the speech patterns of the user. In reality, however, the program and corresponding data embedded within the toy, which the processor uses, are fixed. The repertoire of sounds and tricks within the toy will thus all eventually be exhausted, and the user will become bored with the toy.
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide an interactive toy that is capable of connecting to a server to expand the functionality range of the toy.
Briefly summarized, the preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses an interactive toy. The interactive toy has a microphone, a speaker, a memory for storing a toy identifier, and an interface to provide communications with a computer system. The computer system connects to a server on a network. The interactive toy provides electrical signals from the microphone, as well as the toy identifier, to the computer system via the interface. The interface enables the computer system to control the speaker to generate audible information according to data received from the server. Alternatively, a processor and memory with networking capabilities may be embedded within the toy to eliminate the need for a computer system.
It is an advantage of the present invention that by connecting to the server on the network, the interactive toy may expand its built-in functionality. The server can effectively act as a warehouse for new commands, which can be continually updated. In this manner, a user is less likely to become bored with the interactive toy.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.